In early September, Congressman Jim Himes sent an email to constituents who have elected to be on his mailing list. A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Jim was conducting a survey of his constituents’ views on President Obama’s proposed “limited military strike” against the Assad regime in Syria. The strike was intended to send a message that Assad had crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons on his own people, killing a reported 1,400 men, women and children.
President Obama, to his credit, decided to ask Congress to weigh in on the decision to initiate such an act of force, despite his opinion that Congressional approval was not required by law. Jim, in his email, wrote: “The intelligence community has determined with a high degree of confidence that the Assad regime undertook this attack.” He said he believed the case “for that conclusion is strong, if not watertight.”
It was easy to reply to the survey. However, at the bottom of his email, Jim announced that he would also be holding a “town hall” meeting on September 8 at the Darien Public Library for anybody who wished to express views on the issue in person.
The meeting room at the library has an official “standing room included” capacity of 225. When the meeting started, people were standing two deep against the walls and overflow groups of people were standing outside both fire exits. Jim showed up with Senator Blumenthal, who also wanted to hear what his constituents had to say. Before taking questions and comments, Jim reiterated that the evidence against Assad was strong, but it was not yet a “slam dunk”, to borrow an unfortunate term from a prior war debate.
People from many different towns (including Ridgefield) spoke their minds for the next 1½ hours. Speakers, respectfully, but with strong opinions, included Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between. Someone suggested that Jim take a poll of attendees. At first Jim thought it a rhetorical suggestion, but other audience members assured him it was not. About 80% were against intervention, 10% were in favor and 10% undecided. When asked if he would abide by his constituents’ desires, he rightly said he would give their opinions strong weight, but would reserve final judgment based upon the possibility of additional information. He of course, has access to classified data that we do not.
In light of subsequent events, Congress may not have to stand up and be counted on this issue after all. Nonetheless, thanks to the efforts of our Congressman, his constituents have had ample opportunity to tell him (and, indirectly, our President) where they stand. In this instance, with this Congressman, it is not just big-money corporations and Washington insiders that have access to our Congressman’s ear. Real democracy works best when citizens go to the trouble to speak up and politicians take the time to listen.
Mr. Sutherland is a member of the Ridgefield Board of Finance and the Democratic Town Committee, which provides this column.